Operation Chicken Wing: Scaring Heero Yuy
by FantasticJackie
Summary: Happy Halloween! Can the Wing Pilot ever be scared? Just a humerous little piece celebrating All Hallow's Eve.


**Operation Chicken Wing: Scaring Heero Yuy  
**_By: Jackie_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Wing.

**JN:** Well, I was trying to write my Crossover fic when I realized the date. It's almost Halloween, so I was inspired to write a ghoulish fic! I was gonna do one starring Zechs, but then I decided it would be so much more fun with Heero! So, here you go: my first "purely," (well, there's a lot of 6x9 as well as the others; sorry… Can't resist!), HxR fic as well as oneshot. Starring Zechs Merquise as the Headless Horseman, Trowa Barton as Frankenstein, Quatre Winner as Dracula, and Duo Maxwell as… the Boogie Man, I give you:

**_Operation Chicken Wing: Scaring Heero Yuy_**

Heero Yuy lazily took in his surroundings. He was in an old cleaned out barn in the middle of nowhere; it was decorated well for the season. Somewhat loud music, a rather large gathering of people, fruit punch spouting mist, literal finger foods, games, and lots of conversation… Dead men, ghouls, goblins, demons, and even a man with no head walked around enjoying themselves. In fact, a crowd had gathered around the headless man who was turning up a plastic cup of fruit punch; the red liquid entered what could be surmised as an invisible mouth and then found its way down the throat on its way through the rest of the digestive tract. There were cheers and awes of amazement as the headless man's drink disappeared below his clothes.

Heero Yuy was at a Halloween party, and if someone would have told him earlier that day that he would be at this particular location and enjoying himself, no less, he might have actually laughed at them. – He would have been internally amused, at the very least.

"Heero?"

"Hn."

And if someone would have told him that he would have a relationship with Relena Dorlain by the end of the day, he would have definitely scoffed.

"Let's join the others," she suggested.

"Hn…" he nuzzled her neck, "Let's wait a little longer…" They were, by no means, secluded from the others, but their little corner bought them some assumed privacy.

Heero thought back to the beginning of this day as he planted a kiss on Relena's neck. It had started out normal enough….

--------------------

It was a normal day at the office. – Well, as normal as could be if you shared said office with a certain Duo Maxwell. Heero thought himself a very patient person. Every action he made was carefully thought out and planned. The same went for when he spoke; every word was clear and concise with the exact meaning he needed. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said. He meticulously analyzed everything, exploring the pros and cons of every action, their outcomes and flaws. This took time, and thus, Heero Yuy was a patient person. Rarely ever did he lose his temper for such an outburst was not only illogical and lacking in any sense of accomplishment, but it was also irrational. Heero only did things with a purpose in mind. At this particular moment, his thoughts floundered about as he searched for a valid and logical purpose to kill – or at least seriously maim – his partner.

Finding none, he glared at the braided boy and sat at his "desk" without a word.

Today was October 31, otherwise known as Halloween. Heero was not one to celebrate any kind of holiday (except Christmas which marked the end of the Wars, Thanksgiving which he celebrated with his friends to please them, and Relena's birthday which he counted as a holiday); often, he forgot they even happened. But this time he had no chance of retaining such blissful ignorance to All Hollow's Eve. And after all that his partner had done in "preparation" for the "wonderful" holiday, Heero was quite sure that he, in fact, hated Halloween.

In the week and a half lead up to the ghoulish holiday and Duo's Halloween Bash, Heero's partner had tried to scare him every day at some random point in time. He had failed every single attempt.

The first day, he had jumped from behind the door with a wild mask on his face yelling, "Boo!" Instead of Heero being scared out of his wits, Duo found his joke to have backfired at the sight of the gun leveled in his face.

Two days later, Heero noted that Relena had left her "panic button" (a personal 911 signal to the Perfect Soldier) in his and Duo's office. It was a good thing, too because later that day, Dup pressed the button knowing full well its purpose. Either he ignored the fact that Heero could use GPS to find his exact location, or he skipped over that minor detail. Whatever the reason, Duo was not pleasantly surprised to be found by a pissed off Heero Yuy.

The next day, they had decided to eat lunch out; Heero, regrettably, let Duo drive. Between breakneck speeds, screeching halts, several near misses, crossing the median, and even driving with his eyes closed, the Wing Pilot remained perfectly calm. Duo was an exceptional pilot, so he had nothing to fear. Plus, he had survived far more than a simple car crash.

Scary stories, haunted houses, and horror films – all attempts failed.

Yesterday, and Heero was still quite puzzled about the logistics of it, he had actually flipped their office upside down. Their desks, lamps, files – all of it was on the ceiling. While Heero had remained indifferent to the situation and even marveled at his partner's prank, Director Une had not taken it so well.

Whether today's elaborate hoax outdid yesterday's, Heero had not yet decided. Upon entering the office, he had to claw his way through a sheet of spider webbing. The lights were off, but the strobe light lit everything up for short instances so that Heero could see everything in "pictures" or freeze frames that moved the next instant. Spider webbing was spread throughout the room hanging and clinging to the walls, shelves, and their desks. A few toy bats swooped around and made noises above Heero's head and a line of robotic dancing and singing skeletons hung from the ceiling. An owl hooted from the top of Heero's filing cabinet, but what made him see red was the glowing green goop spread all over his desk and belongings.

Thoroughly annoyed, Heero had flipped the light switch on, violently unplugged the strobe light, and switched off the skeletons and owl.

Now sitting at his desk, he glared at his partner who had a dubious grin on his face. "Was this intended to scare me as well?"

Duo's grin widened, and he shook his head, "No. I gave up on that. But since all my attempts ended in your annoyance, I decided I'd go straight for the gold this time."

Heero silently fumed. How was he supposed to get any work done in this?

"What is this?" he said sliding his fingers through the still slightly glowing ooze on his desk. It wasn't sticky, and it wasn't wet, but it was cold.

"Monster Blood," he said cheerily.

Heero snapped his eyes up to meet his partner's in annoyance. "What. Is. This?" he repeated. He was growing impatient.

"I just told you. It's called Monster Blood. It's a Halloween decoration. – You're coming tonight, right?"

Heero ignored his question, "Why is it all over my desk?"

Duo shrugged, "I thought you could use some Halloween cheer to get you in the spirit."

Heero vaguely wondered why that seemed more like something that should be said at Christmas. He let out a slow, long breath as he cleared everything off his desk. He peered over the edge of the ledge and grabbed his empty trash bin. He then rolled up his sleeve, and with his bare forearm, wiped all the monster blood off the surface of his workspace and led it into the bucket. He stood, and trash bin in hand, walked over to Duo.

"I believe this is yours," he said simply holding the bin full of ooze out.

"Aww, thanks, buddy! I thought you were going to-" he reached out to take it from Heero, but the Wing Pilot removed it out of his reach and instead flipped it upside down over Duo's head. "Hey!" he protested from inside the bin as he lifted it off his face, the green goop clinging to his hair, face, and clothes. He saw his partner retreating to his desk.

"Happy Halloween," Heero drawled as he sat at his newly clean desk and started to pile his belongings back onto the surface.

Duo was about to respond when Quatre appeared at Heero's open door. "Did you hear? Miss Noin just-" he cut himself off as he spied the American boy covered in the light green ooze. "What happened to you?"

"Heero," and "Halloween," they answered respectively.

Duo pouted, "He can't take a joke."

Heero didn't spare a glance from his now opened laptop as he typed in the passcodes.

"Yesterday was… Well, yesterday was," Quatre settled on, "But didn't Director Une warn you never to-"

Duo held up his hands to hush the blonde youth, "She said it was okay to decorate!"

"Some decorations…" Quatre mused. Anyway, Miss Noin just arrived. She's checking in upstairs right now, but then she'll be down here."

"Yeah… As if 70 stories up is _down_…" Duo remarked sarcastically. He brushed some of the Monster Blood off his sleeve.

Quatre was about to explain that compared to the seventy-fifth floor where Noin currently was, they were down.

Heero, however, unintentionally interrupted him, "So Zechs didn't come with her?"

Quatre shook his head, "No. He'll be coming in a few weeks for the winter holidays. - Something about wanting to finish his current assignment. You'll have to ask Miss Noin if you're interested."

"How come she was allowed to come so early? She won't be leaving until the beginning of next year, right?" Duo asked.

Quatre nodded, "I think he had the option, but chose to stay because he doesn't care about Halloween."

Duo gave Heero a pointed look which he ignored.

"Those two haven't taken a day off since they got there," Quatre continued, "They've more than earned their quarterly rest."

"D--- straight," replied a voice from the hall.

Quatre turned to his left just as Noin appeared in the doorway, a backpack slung over one shoulder and a duffel bag carried in her other hand to balance the weight. She set her duffel bag down as Quatre embraced her in a friendly hug.

"It's good to see you again, Miss Noin."

"It's good to see you, too," she said stepping back. "You've certainly grown…" she remarked at his height which was now a full four inches above her own.

"Hey!" Duo said approaching the older woman. He intended to get a hug, as well, but Noin stopped him with a glance.

"What is all over you?"

"Monster Blood."

"Halloween."

"His own prank."

The three answers came out at the same time, but she seemed to get the picture.

"I see," she said amused. Then she turned to Heero, "Well hello, Heero. You're so silent over there that I almost didn't realize you were here."

Heero lifted his eyes from the screen for a moment and nodded, "Hello, Noin. – Congratulations." His eyes were back to the laptop.

Noin didn't miss a beat, "Thank you. We haven't set a date yet."

"What-?" Duo began.

Noin lifted her left hand and answered his question by the show of the small engagement ring residing on her finger.

"Wow!"

"Yeah. Congratulations. When-?"

"Last week. I decided I'd just tell you in person."

"Hey, buddy, you know what this means?" Duo asked with a grin, "It means Zechs has more guts than you do!"

Heero continued to type. "He was going to destroy the earth; that was never in question," he replied dryly ignoring the implications about Relena.

Noin chuckled lightly, "I'll tell him you said that. – Where are Sally and the others?"

"Trowa's downstairs in security, and Sally and Wufei are on field duty today. We may not see them all day."

"Yeah, but they're coming tonight. – You're coming, right, Noin?" Duo asked hopefully.

She nodded as she yawned and covered her mouth, "I'm sorry. – Yes, Duo, I'll be there. I probably won't be in costume, though." She smiled slightly, "They don't carry any on Mars, and I don't see how I'll have time to get one before this evening."

"You must be exhausted from your trip."

She nodded again, "I am. Fifty-seven hours of space travel. I'm glad I was able to use auto pilot for half of it. D--- that man… He refused to leave until the outer cores of the three new domes were finished…" She sighed, "And that reminds me… He wanted me to call him when I arrived." She looked at the time, "Oh s---. He's probably leaving right now…"

Duo offered his vidphone which Noin accepted.

"Noin, you just caught me," Zechs said when he answered the phone. "I was just leaving."

"I thought you would be. I arrived here about an hour ago, and I'll be going to see your sister in a few minutes."

He nodded on the other end, "How was the trip?"

"Don't even go there, Zechs. It would have been nice if-"

"All right, all right," he said defensively. "I'm sorry."

"And forgiven, as usual. – What are you doing today?"

"Only what's scheduled," he replied.

"Zechs, be careful. It's a real-"

"I know. I will be. I need to go. I'll talk to you later, Noin."

"Have fun," and his image winked off screen. She turned around to face Heero, "Why aren't you with Relena this morning?"

"I'll be leaving as soon as I finish this report. She won't leave for another forty-seven minutes, and I designed the security system at her house. I know she's safe for now. I've fallen behind in my Preventers duties, though," he said this as he continued to type.

"Oh… Well, how about I guard her today so you can catch up?" she offered.

"Didn't you just say you were exhausted from your trip?" he countered.

"I'll be all right. I'll just grab some coffee."

Heero looked up, "No. You have to be alert-"

Duo interrupted, "Aww, Heero! Are you trying to insult her? Hello! This is _Noin_. Even Zechs trusts her with Relena's safety, and he's more protective of her than you are."

"I seriously doubt that," Heero replied.

"You know I would never let anything happen to her."

Heero leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Why do you want me to stay here?" he perceptively asked.

"To finish your work," Noin answered naturally.

"We don't want any excuses about not coming tonight," Duo continued.

Heero stared at them for a moment, then picked up his planner. He hated leaving things to the last minute, let alone being behind in his work. This could be the perfect opportunity… "She only has three meetings today…" He lifted his eyes back to Noin, "You're sure you can do this?"

"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't."

"Fine. Call me if you need anything," and he returned to his work.

Noin smiled, "Thanks, Heero," and walked back to grab her duffel bag at the door, then turned to Quatre and Duo. "I'll see you boys later," she said with a wink and left.

"I'm back to work, too," Quatre said with a wave as he headed for his office.

Duo returned to his own desk thinking, 'That was easier than I thought… I guess I'll message Hilde about the change of plans. I'll have to thank Noin for that later…"

On the message, he wrote, "Change of plans: Phases 1, 2, and 6 completed. Phases 3 and 4 underway. Eliminate Phase 7. Phase 5b becomes 7. Proceed with Phase 5."

He received a message a few moments later, "Acknowledged. The others have been informed. How shall we proceed with Phase 5?"

"We stall for time. At 1700, we call in the damsel."

"Affirmative. Operation Chicken Wing timeline adjusted. Phase 3 is having difficulties. Should I send back up?"

"Who?"

"Downstairs."

"Is it unavoidable? We don't need suspicion."

"Affirmative. Call in the Boss?"

"That works."

"Acknowledged. The spy is on it. Phase 4 is scheduled to check in at 1400 hours. I'll contact you then."

--------------------

Heero, despite his usual emotionless state, was rather pleased with himself. At 1752, his work was completed, and he'd even had an hour lunch. He was nervous for some reason, though. He hadn't heard anything all day, and his mind kept straying to the cell phone in his pocket. Should he call to ensure that everything was all right? It wasn't that he didn't trust Noin; he didn't trust anyone else, and that was the problem.

His thoughts the entire day, he realized, had been focused on Relena. Maybe not at the forefront of his mind, but always there keeping his attention partially on her.

It was only one day.

Lately, however, the Perfect Soldier had begun to notice that he was helplessly drawn to her. Despite his best efforts, she broke through the multiple thick shells he'd placed around his heart years ago.

He didn't know why he fought it. Perhaps it was because he was a soldier and she a princess; by most accounts, save fairy tales, their relationship should never be. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she was so innocent when he was stained with the blood of untold thousands. Or maybe, just maybe, he was a coward.

He had long ago recognized that the young woman held a special place in his heart. That, in no way, commanded that he should act upon it. Taking a look at his motto, always act on your emotions, it seemed hypocritical, but it really wasn't.

What was he supposed to do? He didn't know how to act on this emotion known as love. At times, he felt compelled to kiss her, but that would be violating her person, wouldn't it? He had kissed her once, and she'd been shocked, to say the least. Because of her reaction then, in such situations, he thought to ask her permission, but how could he ask such a question? What if she laughed? What if she said no? And what should he do when such temptations arose in front of others? Should he still act upon the urge? Ask the question and hope for the best? Request that the others to turn and leave while they "discussed" something?

Other times, she made him absolutely furious - often with the disregard of her personal safety. He so painstakingly worked and guarded her with the utmost care and security to protect her from the various evils of the day, and she was sometimes flippant about it. Like it didn't matter. Like if anything ever happened to her, he would somehow magically always find a way to save her. Reality wasn't so kind; he knew that, so why didn't she? At such moments in time, he would become so enraged that he didn't know what to do with himself. Didn't she know how valuable she was? That she couldn't be replaced? That she had a role to fulfill, and she had to be there to do it? He'd have to restrain himself from yelling or throwing something or smashing his fist through a wall. And then, she'd say something, and all was forgiven. He'd suddenly feel remorse for his mental outburst and long to hold her in his arms, though the logical side of him would still be fuming.

Love made no sense.

Many times, he was simply in awe of her. She had told him several times before that she thought him a strong person, but she was stronger than he was. He knew that. He, as a soldier, had merely done what he had to do because he was trained to do it. It was his mission. What strength and skill did that take? What overlying will? He'd been taught to accomplish the mission or die trying; so far, he'd accomplished every mission. There was no other option and no such thing as an alternative. She, however, she had volunteered for the mission she now faced. She hadn't really ever been involved in war by default like the others; she'd been thrust into it by her own free will. Two things had thrust her into the war: the murder of her father and meeting him. She could have simply walked away, but she didn't. Instead, she took on a role, and one of the most important ones at that. Heero never pretended that he had a small part in the bringing of peace; his role had been large, and he knew that without him, the outcome could have been very different. But the same went for Relena. The world would be so different if she hadn't been there, and if she hadn't been willing to take the position of Vice Foreign Minister, choosing to give her life up to be a public servant.

Then there was her treatment of him. He knew that she felt something for him, yet she, too, refused to act upon it. This only encouraged Heero to continue on his present path. Not that he charged her with making the first move... It just meant that she more than likely had a reason, and he didn't know what it was.

Interrupting his thoughts, his cell phone rang.

"Yuy," he answered without looking to see who it was.

"Hi, Heero," Relena cheerily responded.

"Relena. Is everything okay?" Her voice made him mentally tingle; it was like a chorus of angels to him. Another thing he had noticed was the way he liked, enjoyed, and even loved the tiny insignificant things she did, stupid little traits about her, and other such nonsense. Love was illogical; how was he supposed to deal with that?

"Yes, I'm all right. I knew you would be worried, so I called."

"Hn," he replied. He often wondered how she knew him so well. He seldom spoke at all and remained as aloof as possible. How was it that she knew his thoughts, cares, and concerns? Yet another thing he marveled at about her.

"Miss Noin is taking extra good care of me," she continued. "Did you finish your work?"

"Yes."

"So does that mean you're coming tonight?"

"Where?"

"To Duo's party, of course."

"No," he frowned. Why was everyone trying to get him to go to this stupid party?

"Oh, but Heero, it'll be fun."

He didn't say anything.

Relena was silent as she contemplated a way to get him to attend the party. This was her role, and she had to fulfill the expectations set upon her. Heero had to be at that party, or Operation Chicken Wing would be an utter failure.

"Heero?"

"Hn."

"Heero, no one will be really paying attention to me tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"Just what I said. No one will be watching me tonight."

"The others will be there-"

"But they won't be paying attention. It's a party, Heero."

He was, again, silent.

"In the middle of the woods," she added for good measure.

After another moment, he sighed, "Do you want me to pick you up, or will you be going with Noin?" She won. She always won - especially when it concerned her safety. She knew it was his weakness.

"I'll be going with Miss Noin; I'll see you when I get there. – And Heero?"

"Hn."

"Are you dressing up?" she asked hopefully.

"Don't push your luck, Relena."

She laughed lightly and bid him farewell before hanging up.

She turned to Noin. "Got him," she said flipping through the menu on her cell to send Hilde, the overseer in their little scheme, a text about the news.

"So we're off to help in the management of Phase 4?" Noin asked trying to keep things straight.

Relena pressed the send button and mentally recalled what Phase 4 was, "Yes, and the others will soon be informed of the success of Phase 5."

"After this, our next part is…"

"Phase 8 for you, 9 for me."

Noin nodded and managed to stifle a yawn, "Okay…"

"Jet lag?"

"Long flight," she said resting her head against the leather car seat. "Don't worry, though." Her eyes were closed, "We'll sleep-" Her eyes popped open, "_I'll_ sleep well tonight." Despite her best efforts, a light pink hue tinged her cheeks.

Relena gaped at the woman in front of her before stating, "That was far too much information, Miss Noin."

Her face was still slightly flushed as she looked out the window and avoided Relena's gaze.

"All though, I will say that this is the first time I've ever seen you blush…"

Noin chuckled.

Back at the Preventers HQ, Heero was mentally cursing himself. He had just given his word to Relena that he would attend Duo's party, and none other than the host himself had re-entered their shared office.

Heero braced himself for the onslaught of bubbling excitement that would soon be his best friend. "Duo," he said calling his attention.

"Hmm?" he questioned all too pleasantly.

Heero feigned extreme attention to accomplishing extemporaneous tasks on the laptop in front of him, "I've changed my mind. I'll be attending your party tonight."

Duo's grin stretched from ear to ear, "Really?"

Heero didn't respond to the unnecessary question.

"Why the change of heart?" he asked when he received no response.

"Relena-" he began.

"Ohhhh…. Did you find out what her costume is going to be? I never thought you that kind of guy, Heero…"

He glared at him over the laptop, "I'm not. Relena pointed out that no one will be watching her tonight; I'm merely attending as security."

"So… you're going to _watch_ her?" he emphasized 'watch.'

"Duo…"

"I think I'll stick with my original assessment," he said smugly.

Being the patient man he was, Heero considered the merits of strangling Duo with his own braid… While extreme personal satisfaction and pleasure would be attained, the negative consequences of such an action outweighed the positive, and so Heero settled for his patented death glare fully informing the braided pilot of what he wanted to do.

Nevermind the fact that Duo's naughty assumptions of Heero's reason for going to the party had, in fact, peaked some interest in the Preventer's mind. What was Relena going to be wearing tonight, and why the _h---_ was he interested in the first place?

Duo, however, was nonplussed by the look having received it far too many times for it to have an effect anymore.

"All right, buddy," he said changing the subject, "Put everything up. It's an hour past work hours, and I'm leaving, so I won't be here to stop you from endeavoring to solve world hunger and the problem of no security cameras in Relena's shower. You have to _tend_ to Miss Relena tonight," he said emphasizing the word again, "So staying here is out of the question."

The Wing Pilot protested, but eventually gave in. Duo would pester him to leave until he actually did, and there was no way he could get any work done like that.

When exiting the building, they ran into Trowa who was on security duty.

Duo was confused, "Oy! What are you still doing here?"

Trowa glanced at Duo, but said nothing. "I'll leave after you two do," he said simply. He nodded towards the metal detector guarding the entrances and exists. Preventers HQ contained many dangerous weapons and secrets, so security was an issue both for those entering and leaving.

Heero placed his wallet, gun, and ID tag in the basket, and Duo did the same next to him. They both crossed under the sensor, and Duo made it safely through, but an annoying buzzing sounded for Heero. He frowned and backed up. He searched his pockets to take out any loose change, and finding none, stepped under the detector again. The buzzing sound went off, and Heero stood back again.

Trowa stepped up to Heero and waved the wand over him; it beeped.

Trowa frowned as did Heero.

"Do you have something on you?"

"No."

"Heero, it's procedure," Trowa said and nodded towards a makeshift wall. The purpose of the wall was for people to undress in privacy.

Heero glared at Trowa before complying.

After a few minutes, they found the culprit – a paper clip had somehow managed to get itself caught in the cloth on the interior of his Preventer jacket.

Trowa frowned, "It shouldn't be that sensitive…" He glanced over the wand. "Oh… It's up three extra settings…"

Heero glared at Trowa after emerging from behind the wall and seeing the tall pilot adjust the setting on the metal detector.

Trowa shrugged, "Sorry."

Heero passed under the sensor without a buzz.

Duo handed him his belongings, "Here you go, buddy. I'll see you tonight. – You know where it is, right?"

"Hn."

"Great! Later!" and he scampered out of the building. On his cell phone, he sent to Hilde a text that read, "Phase 7 complete."

Heero checked over his belongings; the ID was fine, everything was in his wallet, but his firearm... He clicked it open and checked to see that everything was as it should be. The bullet casings seemed a little off, but Heero realized these were not the normal bullets he used. A different brand and a different shape. He pieced the weapon back together and put it away; he was going back to his other brand as soon as he got the chance to make a formal request to Director Une.

--------------------

It was a secluded spot in the middle of nowhere. How Duo had managed to find it was beyond Heero's comprehension. The rickety old barn stood in a small clearing surrounded by vast and deep woods. He was certainly glad he'd come; seeing the place now made him realize that he would have regretted not coming to protect Relena. Who knew what lied in wait in those woods? – Vicious or rabid animals, or maybe even evil men with evil intentions, or assassins... The latter was highly unlikely, but it was still possible, and all possibilities had to be taken into account.

Heero approached the barn's entrance and found that he could hear music emitting from the building. It was going to be a long night…

Just as he was about to enter the barn, _something_ came out to greet him. Heero was repulsed by its face; pieces of skin were hanging, boils (both empty and 'full') covered portions, and even parts of it seemed to be rotting. Then he saw the braid that trailed the despicable creature and realized that the hideous thing was really Duo. He tried to cover his revulsion.

"Wow! If I got a reaction out of you, I must look good! – You're right on time, buddy."

Heero frowned having realized that his reaction had already been discovered, "What are you?"

Duo grinned, a hideous sight with the extreme make-up. "I'm…" he did a little dance to illustrate his point, "The Boogie Man!"

Heero refrained from rolling his eyes.

"Aww, come on, Heero, buddy! You've gotta admit that it's kind of funny!"

Heero didn't respond.

Hilde approached Duo from behind; her face was green and her nose seemed to have an elongated extension with a wart on the tip. Four large, black moles with hairs sticking out resided in various places where they had never been before. In short, Hilde was a witch. "I agree with Heero," she said simply.

"Aww, babe…" He turned to face her with the intention of giving her a peck on the cheek.

She backed away, "No way. Your face is absolutely disgusting!"

"You helped! – And besides, you don't look much better yourself."

"Thank you."

"Has Relena arrived?" Heero interrupted.

The Boogie Man leaned towards the Witch and said behind his hand, "He's here to _watch_ Relena."

Hilde giggled.

Heero glared at the two but said nothing.

Duo straightened, "Nope, sorry buddy."

A series of car doors shut behind them and they turned to see Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, and a "Vampiress," otherwise known as Trowa, Midii, Quatre, and Dorothy respectively. Another car pulled in – an assumed Wufei and Sally. The driver door opened and the, "This is stupid," that sounded from the cavity confirmed the suspicion.

The larger group approached smaller, and they all commented on each other's appearances.

"Duo, you look absolutely revolting," Dorothy stated.

"That's not very nice-" Quatre began.

Duo grinned, "Thanks! – Nice costume, Wufei. Trying to go for a stuck up a--hole?"

Wufei, who was wearing no costume, lunged at Duo. Sally, however, caught him by his hair. He visibly winced and just short of whimpering, stepped back. "Just you wait, Maxwell," he growled.

Duo, however, was overcome with laughter at the simple action that Sally had used to restrain the Chinese man.

"He can't stand it when you pull his hair," she explained with a grin.

"Oh, Duo can't, either," Hilde said with a tug to illustrate her point.

"Ouch! That was unnecessary, Hild'!"

She ignored him, "Quatre, you seem too kind to be a Dracula…"

Quatre grinned, his fangs showing, "Thank you, Miss Hilde. It was Dorothy's idea…"

"I think he looks rather attractive like this…" Dorothy voiced her opinion.

"I must agree…" Midii said appraising the blonde.

He blushed.

_"What?"_

"Oh, don't worry, Trowa. His costume is just sexier than yours."

"Have you, by chance, seen the movie Young Frankenstein?" Duo pondered aloud.

"Who hasn't?" Hilde asked.

"Well, I was just going to point out that in a match of Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Frankenstein wins on the front of se-"

"Hello, Mariemaia!" Sally said loudly over Duo's sentence.

The young girl approached with her mother in tow. She was dressed as Cinderella, glass slippers (which weren't really glass) and all. She was the reason that there was no alcohol at the party – much to Duo's disappointment.

"Hi!" She gasped at Duo, "Oh, that's gross…"

Duo laughed.

Trowa gallantly bowed and kissed Mariemaia's hand, "Welcome to the party, Princess. I hope you'll save a dance for me."

She giggled as she curtsied, "Of course, Mr. Frankenstein."

He stood and greeted Lady Une who was not wearing a costume, "Happy Halloween."

She graced the group with a smile, "Happy Halloween."

A final car approached, and Heero mentally breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know why, but he just had a feeling that something would go wrong. Now that Relena and Noin were here, he could breathe easy.

Or at least he thought.

Noin exited the car, but Relena didn't follow.

Heero's heart sank; where was she if not with Noin? He waited to see if she would come out of the car and was just waiting or doing something that prevented her immediate exit, but he could already tell that she wasn't inside.

Noin approached the group with a grin on her face, "Hello, everyone. Happy Halloween. – Duo, I love your costume."

"Thank-" Duo was cut off.

"Where's Relena?" Heero asked more forcefully than he'd intended.

Noin frowned, "What do you mean? She's waiting for you."

"What?"

"Heero, you called earlier and said you would pick her up and were almost there an hour ago."

Heero mentally paled; he'd done no such thing. He ripped out his cell phone and flipped to Relena's number. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said placing the phone to his ear.

"You're joking," Noin said, a hint of panic in her tone. "Tell me you're joking, Heero."

"Does it look like I'm joking? I didn't call. Relena said she was going with you. – Pick up, d---it!"

Duo looked between the faces in the group, then turned to Noin, "Where was she the last place you saw her?"

"I left her at her house about an hour ago. Everything was fine."

Heero closed his cell, "She's not answering." He took out his PDA and opened a link to the GPS satellite. The dot that should have read 'Relena' was missing. "S---!"

Lady Une took charge, "I think it's best if we stay here."

Heero ignored her and headed for his car.

"Heero, where are you going?" Trowa called.

"To find Relena," he answered.

Suddenly, there was a squeal of tires from the direction of the small road they'd all used to get to the barn. Then, there was a loud crash and the sound of a horn.

Heero's cell phone rang. He looked at the name; it was Relena.

"Relena? Where are you? Are you-"

"Heero! I'm scared!"

"Relena! What's wrong?"

"The driver- we crashed! I… He's headless, Heero!"

"What?"

"He doesn't have a head. He-" she screamed.

"Relena? Relena!" the phone was dead. "D---it!" He grabbed the PDA in his pocket, plugged the phone in, and turned to the others. "Relena was in a car accident. I think she must have hit her head; she wasn't making any sense… Unless…" he didn't finish the thought. Decapitation was not something he even wanted to think Relena might have been exposed to.

The screen on his PDA traced the call to its source; he was right next to her. "That accident we just heard had to be her," he said and took off running.

"Heero! Wait!" Duo called as he ran after his friend.

"We'll stay here in case something else happens," Sally said indicating herself and Wufei.

"I think Mariemaia and I better stay, too," Lady Une suggested.

Hilde nodded, "Yeah..." Running in a dress sucked, anyway.

The others chased after Heero.

Heero found the car in a ditch. The back end was sticking up partially in the road, its back tires hovering a few inches. He didn't have to open the door; it was already spread wide, and Relena was missing. The driver was missing, as well. In the grass outside Relena's door, Heero could read a struggle that had taken place. He stood and listened.

"Wow… Not even a dent on the hood; I guess that was lucky," Duo remarked.

"What?" Heero asked.

"I said there's not even a dent."

"He's right," Trowa concurred. "Not even a scratch, as far as I can tell."

"That doesn't make any sense…" Heero murmured.

"Why?" Dorothy questioned.

"Relena said…" he didn't finish. He looked around the car for more clues, but found none.

"Relena said what?" Dorothy pushed.

"She said the driver had no head."

A gasp.

"Oh man, that's rough…" Duo said with a hand on his neck.

"But there's no blood," Trowa stated. "Are you sure-"

"There aren't any tracks here at all…" Heero said from the ground. He stood and looked around. They were surrounded by a thick, dense forest. There was no way he could find her by just picking a direction and looking. Likewise, an air search from a helicopter would be fruitless. He had to resign to wait.

"Let's go back to the barn. Maybe the others found something," Duo suggested weakly.

Heero nodded and they all jogged back in the direction of the barn.

An unnatural sound disturbed the night air; a long, hard, deep, evil laughter cut through the silence. The group stopped.

"What the h---?" Noin wondered aloud. "Where did that come from?"

The sound of galloping hooves could be heard somewhere in the distance.

Heero suddenly noticed that it was slightly chilly, though it didn't bother him one bit. Whisps of "smoke" were being exhaled from everyone's lungs at various and quickened tempos.

"I don't like the sound of that…" Midii said as she drew nearer to Trowa.

A piercing shriek shattered the calm, dead ambiance, and Heero recognized it as belonging to Relena. He ran towards the direction of the sound – towards the barn.

Rounding the corner, he noticed that something was definitely amiss. The open field that the barn was located in was now covered in a heavy fog that was emanating from the ground. There was no sign of Wufei, Sally, Lady Une, or Mariemaia. The lights in the barn were dim, and the music had been turned off.

"This is getting creepy…" Duo said as he caught up to Heero.

Heero hushed him and listened. The galloping hooves were somewhere through the trees to his right; he tore off in the direction withdrawing his gun.

"Wait up, buddy!"

The brambles, twigs, branches, and leaves all presented obstacles for Heero to overcome, but he merely trampled over them, ignoring any cuts or scratches he received. The ground was still covered with a heavy mist, even in the woods; he could barely see in front of him. Then, without warning, the ground turned to mush and almost instantaneously, water.

He gasped as the freezing water covered his body. He swam to the top and looked around; he could see land a few feet over. He started towards it when something grabbed him. And then another thing grabbed him. More and more things grabbed him and pulled him under the surface. He opened his eyes under the water and saw the rotting flesh of ten or so dead men who were clinging desperately to him and pulling him down. His mouth opened in shock, but he didn't let go of his held breath. He fought with the dead men, pushing them off him and throwing them aside. Finally freeing himself, he cleared the surface of the water and swam to the land. It was another small clearing covered in fog and surrounded by the forest.

He chanced looking back and saw the zombies emerging from the water walking after him. He backed up and ran into something – or rather some one.

"Duo..."

"Heero! – You're all wet. What-"

Duo was suddenly in a chokehold, his feet dangling in the air. "Is this one of your pranks?"

"_what_!" he squeezed out.

"Those men are 'dead.' You want me to believe that!"

"what are.. you talking…. about?" he gasped.

Another rotting corpse made its way toward the two. Heero made to punch it, but his hand traveled straight through it. He looked to the ground, expecting to find a holographic projector; it wasn't there. He dropped Duo and backed away.

Duo inhaled deeply. "Thanks, buddy," he coughed.

Heero picked him up by the arm and dragged him along away from the corpses and towards the middle of the field. "I don't know what's going on here, but it's not making any sense," he told the braided pilot.

"Gee, ya' think?"

"Where are the others?"

"I don't know. I lost them."

Another laugh sounded throughout the forest, and the two stopped.

"Uh… Buddy? What is that?" he pointed towards the rustling in the trees.

He didn't say anything; he didn't have to. From every entrance to the forest, there emerged a dead corpse zombie headed towards them. The walked at unnatural angles and moaned as if their rotting flesh still had live nerve endings.

"W-AHHHH!" came a male voice.

It was joined by two female screams and another male voice saying, "RUN!"

Quatre, Trowa, Midii, and Dorothy ran past the dead corpses and joined Duo and Heero at the center of the field.

"What the _H---_ is going on!" Trowa gasped.

"This isn't real… This can't be happening," Dorothy rationalized.

"Just stick together," Heero muttered. "Where's Noin?"

"Lost her…" Quatre replied breathlessly.

The galloping returned and another loud laugh rang through the trees. A giant of a black horse emerged from the forest, a hot mist coming from its body and thick clouds of mist emitting from its nostrals. On it were three figures: Relena, a body draped over the back that was obviously Noin, and… Heero blinked. This couldn't be right, but it was exactly as Relena had said.

A headless and handless body dressed in black wielding a sword held captive both Relena and Noin and steered the black beast which he was riding easily through the moaning zombies. Another laugh, this one louder than the others. It was his laugh – the laugh of the Headless Horseman.

"Duo, if this is another one of your tricks-"

"How can this be a trick! These aren't holograms, Heero! We've already seen that!"

Heero ran towards the horse and jumped, grabbing Relena from the ghost's clutches.

They landed in a heap, Heero purposely under Relena to take the brunt of the jolt. They hurriedly stood up together as the horseman turned his beast around and headed back for them.

"Relena, are you all right?" Heero asked as Relena clung to him.

"Yes, I'm fine, Heero. – Heero, how is this happening? This is just a fairy tale! This can't be real! - Why are you all wet?"

"I don't think it is," he said ignoring her last question. He pulled out his gun.

"Duo, this is the last time I'm going to ask you. Is this one of your pranks?"

"NO!" Duo said forcefully as he threw a zombie off him; they'd reached the center of the clearing and were completely surrounded.

"Someone might die if you don't tell me the truth!" he said again. The shot was lined up, and the horseman continued towards Heero as if he couldn't see the gun.

"Heero, he has no head! You can't kill him! He's already dead!" Duo protested.

"Fine." He shot. The bullet struck the horseman square in the chest where his heart should have been. The bullet tore straight through the man and blood gushed from the wound.

But the horseman didn't stop. In fact, he laughed as Heero realized that he could see straight through the hole he'd created in the man.

He shot again and again until he'd exhausted his clip. The horseman dismounted from his horse and laughed as he neared Heero and Relena. Noin still lay unconscious on the beast of a horse.

"Two heads are better than one! Two heads are better than one! Two heads are better than one! Two…" the zombies chanted this as the headless man continued to advance.

They closed in around Heero and Relena, preventing their escape. Heero turned and tried to fight his way past the zombies with Relena, but he couldn't tell which ones were 'real' and which ones were not. They wielded weapons, pikes, spears, and hoes, but Heero couldn't tell which ones could actually hit them and which ones were "ghosts."

"Heero!" Relena called out as she clung to him.

"I…" he didn't know what to say. There was no escape; he could survive a few good blows from the zombies, but Relena couldn't.

The horseman raised his sword and brought it swooping downward, but Duo jumped over the zombies and in the way of the blade. He cried out as the sword came in contact with his side, splitting it open and blood poured from the wound. He fell in a heap and did not move.

"DUO!" Heero cried as Relena hid her face in him. Was this real? If it was Duo's prank, then he wouldn't have just severely injured, if not killed, himself.

The horseman laughed and raised his sword again.

"Two heads are better than one! Two heads are better than one! Two heads are better…"

Heero realized that this was it. He couldn't save Relena and he couldn't save himself.

He turned to Relena grasping her shoulders. "Relena, I'm sorry. I've failed," he said desperately.

The chanting stopped. Laughter rang through the forest, but it wasn't evil. It was lighthearted, mirthful, and even joyous. The evil grimaces of the zombies turned to smiling faces as they were joined by Quatre, Trowa, Midii, and Dorothy.

The horseman lowered his sword gently and sheathed it. "You'd better stop now before you let something out that you don't want us to hear..." came the voice of Zechs Merquise from the headless man.

Heero frowned, "Zechs?"

He laughed, "That look on your face was priceless... I do hope we got pictures..."

"Oh, we most certainly did," answered someone from behind. Lady Une emerged through the "zombies" with a digital camera in her hands. Wufei, Sally, Hilde, and Mariemaia also appeared with cameras of their own. "We've got film, too," she said as Wufei held up his camera. "I had Trowa set up cameras throughout this forest; I bet we could make a movie..."

Noin came up behind the Headless Horseman and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I think he looks better with a head, too," she said to Heero's utter confusion at Zechs' missing body parts.

"I can see _through_ you," Heero stated in confusion.

"So you can," Zechs said with mild amusement. "Maybe I really am dead..."

"I could have killed you!" he stated angrily.

"No one can kill me, Heero. You should know that by now."

Duo stood up, half of his costume in shreds and covered in fake blood that looked stunningly real in the moonlight. "Hey, buddy. I'm touched by your concern; I really a-"

Heero tried to put Duo in a chokehold again.

"Woah, Heero. It wasn't his prank," Zechs said stepping between the two.

"Who's was it, then?" Heero grated between his teeth.

"Mine," said a voice behind him.

He turned around and mentally gawked at Relena. "You?" he asked incredulously. "You planned all this?"

"Most of it; I had a lot of help," she grinned.

He stared at her, then grabbed her arms roughly and pulled her to him. "Did you plan this?" he asked before covering her lips with his.

Zechs' eyes bulged, though no one could see them. He turned around not wanting to be a witness to his little sister's romance.

"No," Relena said breathlessly when they broke.

"I really thought I was going to lose you," Heero said and lowered his head to hers agian.

"Heero..." she breathed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Zechs rocked back and forth uncomfortably on his heels... He couldn't take it anymore. He turned around, placed an invisible hand on Heero's shoulder and pulled him off his sister. "That's enough."

Heero glared up to where Zechs' head was supposed to be, but found himself glaring at the night sky. "Zechs, I don't care if you approve of me-"

"You should know by now that I do," Zechs said simply, but didn't go into details. Heero made a mental note to ask about that later. "I'm simply uncomfortable..." he trailed off. "Relena is still my sister, and... "

"What he means is that he doesn't want to see you two-" Noin said.

"Or _hear_," Zechs cut in.

"Right. Or hear you two during your 'moments.'"

Zechs nodded, then realized that no one could see that, "Yes. It makes me uncomfortable."

Relena arched an eyebrow, "Oh? Is that so, dear brother?"

"Yes, it's so, Relena."

"Really? Because I was quite uncomfortable earlier today when Miss Noin let it slip that you two are sleeping together."

In the large group that was surrounding the scene, mouths dropped at this bit of information. Noin blushed furiously as Zechs spun around and faced her.

"You let that _slip_?"

She leaned her head against him still blushing, "I'm sorry. I was so tired that I wasn't paying attention."

"Tell me we got that on tape!" Duo pleaded.

"You're in luck, Maxwell," Wufei replied.

"So you see, dear brother," Relena continued, "I only see this as being fair." With that, she grabbed Heero, spun him around, and kissed him.

--------------------

Heero glanced around the barn again. On the way back, they'd explained everything to him:

- The zombies were actually the members of Quatre's loyal Maguanac Corps.  
- Zechs had been the driver of the wrecked car, and that was why there were no dents or scratches, despite the crash.  
- The bullets in Heero's gun had been switched out with rubber bullets when Heero was being searched by Trowa at the security checkpoint. Zechs was wearing a bullet proof frontal vest, anyway. When the bullets hit the vest, the rubber bullets burst and let loose a red dye coloring the liquid that was previously invisible and inside the vest thereby being seen to flow out as blood.  
- Zechs was invisible due to a new chemical substance that the Preventers would soon be using quite often; he'd "soaked" in the solution from the torso up for three hours; regularions on the new chemical substance did not allow for entire persons to become invisible for obvious security reasons.  
- Zechs and Noin's conversation in Heero's and Duo's office had been staged: Zechs was leaving to start preparations for the Headless Horseman - acquiring the horse from some of the locals, getting a costume, and getting used to weilding a real sword that could seriously hurt someone. Noin's complaint about Zechs wanting to stay until the cores were complete had to do with the time they'd left leaving them no time to rest before the operation began.  
- The field work that Sally and Wufei were doing was actually prepping the woods for the prank. While Heero didn't know this until they told him, Trowa had to be called in by Lady Une to assist the pair in the preparation of the field. His role to distract Heero in order for his weapon to be modified, however, called him back to the security desk.  
- The ghosts that Heero couldn't touch were actually holograms; the holographic projectors had also been soaked in the invisibility solution.

Heero looked over the people on the dance floor who were swaying to the the slow dance. He should have been angry with his friends for what they'd done, but for some reason, he wasn't. Instead, for some strange reason, their prank had endeared them all to him closer. Did they really think he'd never been frightened? Perhaps he'd tell them tomorrow that he often was concerned and feared for their safey as well, and not just Relena's... Perhaps... He'd never live it down, admitting that he did care, but after what his friends had done tonight, he felt oddly compelled to do so.

He led Relena out to the floor. The two had discussed their relationship a little while ago, and while he hadn't told her that he loved her, he knew that would come in time. As a mutual agreement, they decided to keep it away from the press for as long as possible. Someone would eventually find out, but they would enjoy the secrecy for as long as possible before the ins and outs of their relationship would be scrutinized by the masses.

As for tonight, Heero decided that he'd be a bit more open. In the morning, he'd be back to his usual no nonsense self, but for the rest of the evening, he would relax. He fully intended to enjoy this night.

He glanced around and saw that Trowa was now dancing with Mariemaia, albeit awkwardly. Heero had a feeling that the young girl might have a crush on the tall acrobat; he'd confront Trowa about that later. If she did have a crush on him, then it wasn't right for Trowa to feed into it even unintentionally. But that would wait until morning; that along with everything else, like his question to Zechs. He was unsure of his relationship with the man, and tonight's events had definately confused him even more - espeically finding out that Zechs did indeed approve of him for his little sister.

Speaking of Zechs, Zechs and Noin weren't dancing anymore. Well, they were, in a way...

A flash went off as a picture was taken.

"Woo! Toungin' it! Go Noin!" Duo cheered.

Noin realized that Zechs' face was still invisible, but she, including her tounge, was not. She blushed horribly and hid her face in Zechs' torn black shirt.

Zechs laughed and lifted Noin's head. He placed her hand on his cheek to "block their view," and kissed her again.

"Milliardo, you're making me uncomfortable," Relena teased.

"I'll distract you," Heero said and kissed her. Maybe Halloween wasn't so bad... He'd definately have to add it to his list of holidays to celebrate.

--------------------

**JN:** Okay, so that was a lame ending, but I can't think of anything else to close it with. Hope y'all liked it at least up to that point.

The part about Wufei being restrained by his hair was not an attempted dig at him. I've yet to meet a guy who can withstand their hair being pulled, be it long or short.

Of course, I'm referring to Blind Target at the part where Heero mentions kissing Relena once before.

For reference:

**Operation Chicken Wing  
**Phase 1 - Throw Heero off; Duo's failed pranks  
Phase 2 - Throw Heero off; Noin arrives "without Zechs"  
Phase 3 - Field work - Wufei and Sally - Prepping the field for the prank  
Phase 4 - Becoming the Headless Horseman  
Phase 5 - Convincing Heero to attend the party  
Phase 6 - Separate Heero and Relena; changing of the guard  
Phase 7 - Switch out Heero's gun (Originally Une ordering Heero to leave his work for another day)  
Phase 8 - Arrive at the party; "Where's Relena?"  
Phase 9 - Relena's phone call  
Phase 10 - Scaring Heero Yuy

_**(: HAPPY HALLOWEEN :)**_


End file.
